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News Briefs
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NEWS BRIEFS Oct-4-2005
By Catholic News Service
U.S.
Vatican's U.N. nuncio cites 'duty' to work for disarmament
NEW YORK (CNS) -- The nations of the world "have a duty" to work for disarmament, the Vatican nuncio to the United Nations said Oct. 3. "The great majority of states want to move the disarmament agenda forward surely and speedily," Archbishop Celestino Migliore said at a meeting of the General Assembly's First Committee, which handles disarmament and security issues. He called arms control and disarmament "fundamental pillars of the architecture for peace" and criticized the recent U.N. 60th anniversary summit of world leaders for failing to act on draft proposals that would have pressed for global progress toward disarmament and the strengthening of international conventions or treaties against nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Archbishop Migliore called it "deplorable" that last May's conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty "ended without a single substantive decision."
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New California law makes human trafficking a state crime
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed into law the most comprehensive legislation in the country to combat human trafficking and modern day slavery: the California Trafficking Victims' Protection Act. "Now we have a great tool to expand our efforts in this area," said Steve Cooley, Los Angeles district attorney during a Sept. 21 press conference at his downtown office shortly after the governor signed the legislation, supported by several communities of women religious. A federal law already exists against human trafficking, but Assemblywoman Sally Lieber, one of the bill's principal sponsors, said the state law would empower local police and prosecutors to get directly involved when they suspect human trafficking is taking place in their local communities. Among those who lobbied for passage of the bill were hundreds of Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange and Religious Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Mary.
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Basilica restoration reveals paintings honoring Gospel writers
BALTIMORE (CNS) -- It was a routine procedure that turned into a remarkable discovery. An architect gently tapped on the wall above the arches that support the dome of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore as a simple way to see what was hollow and what was solid. Hidden behind a layer of protective wood some 60 feet above the ground were four distempered water-based paintings honoring the evangelists -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- dating back to 1865. The rectangular works, each 11 feet wide and 8 feet high, feature a blue and white background, like the sky. Each bears one of the evangelist's names, written in Latin, along with a cream-colored book and quill alluding to the work of the Gospel writers. In addition, each evangelist is portrayed symbolically in the form of one of the four creatures mentioned in the biblical account of the apocalypse -- Matthew represented by a man, Mark by a lion, Luke by a calf and John by an eagle.
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Poor must take priority over tax cuts, says founder of Sojourners
SEATTLE (CNS) -- Religion should be neither ideologically predictable nor morally partisan, according to the author of a best-selling book on the role of religion and politics. "Religion should be the prophetic kind of force that holds both sides to accountability," said the Rev. Jim Wallis, founder of Sojourners, a Washington, D.C.-based organization promoting social justice. He was interviewed Sept. 29 while in Seattle to speak at the 30th anniversary celebration dinner of the Washington Association of Churches. At that event, retired Seattle Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen received the organization's lifetime ecumenical leadership award. Rev. Wallis said he has long admired Catholic social teaching for its emphasis on the preferential option for the poor. "It is a moral and religious imperative to put the needs of poor families right at the top of national priorities," he told The Catholic Northwest Progress, newspaper of the Seattle Archdiocese. The Gulf Coast hurricanes and flooding may do just that, he said.
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Major food corporation helps feed the hungry in New Jersey diocese
METUCHEN, N.J. (CNS) -- For the first time, a major food corporation has responded to the need to feed the hungry in the Metuchen Diocese. "We're empowered with a budget at the store level to donate and put money where we think it's needed," said Scott Payne, store manager of Wegmans grocery store in Woodbridge. Wegmans Food Markets Inc. is a supermarket chain with stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Virginia. The Metuchen Diocese helps provide food to people "from Perth Amboy to New Brunswick to Phillipsburg," Payne noted. "They're all our customers and it's our responsibility to respond." In mid-September, his store delivered the first of two truckloads of food to be distributed through food pantries operated by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities. "It's really exhilarating to see the people giving their time and talent," said Vincent E. Stahl, director of the Metuchen diocesan Office of Development, who started organizing the food donation from Wegmans in April.
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WORLD
Cardinal says U.S. bishops divided on ways to influence politics
BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNS) -- U.S. bishops are facing a choice between a persuasive or a defensive approach to influencing public policy, Washington Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick told a group of European bishops. One approach reasons that "the messages of the Gospel and church teaching are inherently persuasive because they are true," he said. The main task under this approach "is to share this teaching as clearly and widely as possible and apply it consistently to the challenges we face," the cardinal said in a speech to members of the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community, known as COMECE. The second method "begins with a belief that the Gospel and the teaching of our church are under siege," he said. "This vision suggests that our primary task is defensive. It requires protecting our teaching, concentrating on purity, rather than persuasion." The cardinal spoke in Brussels during a Sept. 20-23 meeting of five U.S. and 10 European bishops to discuss how U.S. and European hierarchies can better influence global issues.
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Archbishop Levada asks synod members about politicians, Communion
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Archbishop William J. Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, asked members of the Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist to discuss how they deal with Catholic politicians who want to receive Communion, but do not vote in full accordance with Catholic teaching. The former archbishop of San Francisco, taking advantage of an hour of "free discussion" at the synod Oct. 3, said the issue had "caused some divisions" among U.S. Catholics during the 2004 presidential elections, and he hoped to hear how other bishops would approach the problem. Archbishop Levada quoted from the synod's working document, which said, "Some Catholics do not understand why it might be a sin to support a political candidate who is openly in favor of abortion or other serious acts against life, justice and peace." Given the tension that arose as different U.S. bishops chose different ways to deal with the issue, including publicly announcing they would deny Communion to some Catholic politicians, Archbishop Levada said, "Let's hear the experiences of synod fathers from other countries."
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Movements appeal for changes to make Eucharist more accessible
ROME (CNS) -- International and U.S. Catholic movements pushing for changes in the church appealed to the world's bishops to discuss issues such as married priests and inter-Communion that would make the Eucharist more accessible to the Christian faithful. Representatives from the international We Are Church movement and the U.S. national coalition of FutureChurch were in Rome for a press briefing Oct. 4 about their lobbying efforts before and during the Oct. 2-23 Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist. The synod fathers have to consider "the effect on the Catholic community as a eucharistic people if we do not do something about the priest shortage," said Sister Christine Schenk, a Sister of St. Joseph and founder of FutureChurch. If there are not enough priests to minister to the growing numbers of Catholics in the world "we will not continue to be a eucharistic people," she told Catholic News Service.
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Truth process not set, but Burundi's church begins reconciliation
BUJUMBURA, Burundi (CNS) -- The biggest sponsor of soccer matches in Burundi these days is not a beer company or an auto manufacturer, but the Catholic Church. But the church-backed soccer is not all fun and games: It is a way to help Burundians move past their decades of interethnic killings and war and to develop trust between peoples more used to fighting it out in the bush than on the soccer field. "It is necessary for the development and the foundations for peace," said Thomas Nijimbere, executive secretary of the Burundian bishops' laity commission and one of the organizers of the sports and cultural program, which also includes dancing and discussions for young people and adults in each parish in Burundi. Burundi has seen enough tragedy since independence from Belgium in 1962 for a country 10 times its size. At only around 10,000 square miles, Burundi is dwarfed by its neighbors, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. To the north is Rwanda, with which it shares a very similar language and a history of violence between the majority Hutu and minority Tutsi populations.
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PEOPLE
Open mike at synod lets everyone know about pope's dental appointment
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI had to duck out of the first day of the Synod of Bishops for a dental appointment -- and an open microphone let everyone know. The secretary-general of the synod, Croatian Archbishop Nikola Eterovic, closed the assembly's morning session Oct. 3 with a reminder to participants that they would meet again at 4:30 that afternoon. Pope Benedict leaned over and told the archbishop, "Unfortunately, at 4 p.m. I have an appointment with the dentist." With the microphone still on, the pope's remark was transmitted throughout the synod hall and via a live television feed to the Vatican press office. That evening, the pope rejoined the synod at 5:55 p.m. and took his place on the dais without comment. He returned just in time to listen to the first hour of "free discussion," an innovation Pope Benedict introduced to favor a more open and lively exchange of opinions at the synod.
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U.S. faithful told to be bold in sharing positive faith experiences
CLAYTON, Mo. (CNS) -- The public wants the religious voice in the United States to be more constructive and to better mirror the positive experiences people have in their own faiths, said Krista Tippett, host of a public radio program about religion. The founder and host of "Speaking of Faith" called on faith groups to make their voices heard in a more compelling fashion. She made the remarks at the Interfaith Partnership of Metropolitan St. Louis' 14th annual interfaith program and dinner Sept. 22 in Clayton. About 500 people were at the gathering, making it the best-attended program in the organization's history, said Interfaith Partnership president Ghazala Hayat. The nonprofit interfaith organization will be 20 years old in 2006.
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Katrina reawakened debate on race and class, says theologian
TORONTO (CNS) -- Race, gender, culture, religion, class and poor black people stranded in the flooded out Louisiana Superdome all have something to do with each other, said a leading black Catholic theologian. M. Shawn Copeland, a former president of the Catholic Theological Association of America, believes Hurricane Katrina reawakened the debate about race and class in America, and she is convinced the issues it raised can be better understood if Catholic theology is applied to them. Copeland has been flooded out of one of her two teaching jobs at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically black Catholic university in downtown New Orleans. She also teaches theology at Boston College. With the news coverage in New Orleans immediately after the levees broke, Americans were reminded that race and class still matter, Copeland told The Catholic Register, a Toronto-based weekly, in a telephone interview from Boston.
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Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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